Kitna retired after the 2011 season, his 15th in the league, and was coaching football at Lincoln High School this season when he heard about Tony Romo’s back injury. Kitna sent a text message Tuesday morning to Cowboys coach Jason Garrett, and the two talked by phone for 30 minutes, he said.

“I told Jason if he wants me or somebody to come in and call a play and be able to pull a play off if a bad situation happened, I would be willing to do that,” the 41-year-old Kitna told the newspaper.

He’ll suit up Sunday as the backup to Kyle Orton if Romo can’t play against the Philadelphia Eagles, in a game that will decide a playoff berth.

Kitna appeared in three games for the Cowboys in 2011 and has started 124 games overall for Seattle, Cincinnati, Detroit and Dallas.

“He’s a very active guy,” Garrett said Wednesday. “He’s a mentally tough guy … and he’s certainly very young at heart. So it was good to have him back, good to have him back in the meetings, and (I’m) excited to see him practice today.”